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Sunday, May 03, 2015

April 2015 books

Second reading 30 April 2015. Not as good as I expected the second time around. The implausibilities were so much more...implausible. I'd probably give it four stars now, but as a first-time read, five stars still stands.

Still one of my favorites. There's no other book like this one (unless you count Cather's other books...but even then, this one is the best).

This time around, though, I found myself wanting to wring certain characters' necks more than I remember wanting to years ago. For example: Carl, and Marie. Carl has always kind of bugged me, the way he was always down on himself. Like, be a MAN, Carl, and go sweep Alexandra the heck off her weary feet, you know? But I also appreciate their nontraditional romance.

Now, Marie. I don't know what to do with her. The Marie/Emil subplot was always so dreamy to me as a teenager, and it still kind of is. But the realist in me now feels more of the sadness rather than the dramatic tragedy of it all. So sad.

The scene with Marie and Emil in the gypsy tent is still one of the most understated but romantic scenes in literature, though, am I right??

4.5 stars. I am a big fan of GFY's recaps of Downton Abbey and other period television, so it was great to sit down with them for a few hundred pages. I loved their imagining of a William-and-Kate-ish courtship story.

Do I feel like a horrible person for giving a negative review to a book about a woman's struggle to come to terms with the deaths of her sons, husband, and parents in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami? Yes. Yes I do. So I'll start with the positive.

Deraniyagala's story really is fascinating. If you're interested in reading a first-person account from a tsunami victim, this is a compelling one. I could not put the book down during the first section.*

Her descriptions of her mourning process were very moving, and, in some ways, really resonated with me. Her feelings of guilt for not worrying about her kids in the moments after the wave hit (she was being tumbled around and almost drowned at the time), her wondering if she was ever really a mother if she has no kids to show for it, her wish to die - wow.

But otherwise, she mystified me. I could not understand how a person could grieve to the point that they would leave their family home in London untouched for four years. FOUR YEARS. I am so sorry to be so insensitive, but literally my first thought when I got to that part was, "who on earth has been paying the mortgage/rent on this place, especially since she also says she's been on leave from her job??" Similarly, she gets mad at her brother for finally renting out her parents' home in Colombo, which, by her request, had been left empty for a few years. Again, I get that people need to grieve in their own way, but my goodness that struck me as being so...entitled? I feel awful for saying so, but there are lots of moments like this. It was really uncomfortable to read and to feel so judge-y but also so sorry for the person.

Ugh, I feel awful writing a negative review. This was a hard, hard book to read, and I think 60% was plenty to get the message, especially since other reviews say the remaining 40% is just more of the same.

I think the greatest takeaway benefit of this book is that it was a labor of love for the author. It's her tribute to her departed loved ones, and for that, I appreciate it. I could feel her love and sadness on every page.

*I actually did put the book down during the first section, about a year ago when I first tried to read it. At that time, my kids were almost exactly the same ages as hers, and I'd recently had a baby so my emotions were close to the surface, and I could not handle the tragedy of this book.

4 comments:

What did she think of the kissing? Is she giving any hints to greeting closer to teenhood? E is as immature as ever....although honestly i'm relieved. I teach the 12-14 year olds in Sunday school...they always get harder to entertain when puberty sets in...and twenty times more annoying ;). Thorns drives me nuts. To Roseter in the hen house for me....I guess I just like violent brooding genetic mistakes. I tried code name verity last year and quit after five pages...couldn't handle the potential torture. Wave sounds sad. Have you ever watched hoarders? Lots of times their behavior is proceeded by a huge loss. You feel bad for them but then they are also so annoying because they are destroying the relationships with the people around then making everything worse. Sad.

Did you know there was a 2nd And 3rd books to Code Name Verity? Rose Under Fire and Black Dove White Raven. I had no clue. Like you I love Willa Cather. I was introduced to her by my 8th grade English teacher, Mrs. Minor (she moved up to WHS) and I had her my senior year. I have the Cinder series in my kindle just waiting. I have picked them up for $2.99 as they have been on sale or waiting in my library waiting list. I have heard good things about them.

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We've been in and out of Russia, the Middle East, and the United States since 2001, with one summer at the Middlebury Arabic School in Vermont. We used to live in Tucson and also spent one glorious year in Upstate New York. Current adventure: Sharjah, UAE.